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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Cooking with Chef 101

I’m finally compiling what I learned in the Easter
Sunday cooking lesson with Chef at Biggest Loser Resort in Malibu. Obviously I don’t have time to recap the
entire 2 ½ hour session but I did take good notes of my favorite tips, tricks
and recipes he made that day. Someone
who does a lot of organic cooking may already know these things but to a
processed food princess like me, there was so much great stuff to learn.

Soup was a huge part of our meal plan at the resort. I wasn’t a huge fan of the beet or parsnip but
the others were pretty tasty! Chef uses
a standard made from scratch vegetable stock in all of his soups. He started with a huge pot of water and added
carrots, chunks of onion (including the skins) and celery. You can add any extra veggies you have in the
fridge that you like. Some that he
suggested were peppers, mushrooms, spinach and tomatoes. Then herbs like basil
and thyme. Let this simmer together for
at least two hours. Strain out the
veggies but don’t throw them away. Use
them as compost for the garden. Your
broth can be frozen in small containers so that you have them on hand to pull
out for all soups in the cookbook. Brilliant,
yes?

-When you
cook lasagna, put plastic wrap over the top and then tinfoil to preserve the
flavor. Chef promises the plastic wrap
will not melt onto your food

-Always add
salt at the end of the recipe when cooking beans

-Make a
delicious chili seasoning at home with paprika, oregano, thyme, salt, pepper
and chili powder

-To achieve the
fancy presentation of diamond grill marks on your veggies, think of your grill
as a clock. Place them facing 10 until
the desired marks are achieved and then turn them slightly to 2 o’clock.

-To roast
peppers char them black on the grill.
Steam using a microwave bag or by setting them in a bowl and covering in
plastic wrap for 30 minutes. Once they
have finished steaming the skin will peel off very easily. Cut the top core out, de-seed, chop and
enjoy!

Are you
craving chocolate and want a sweet dessert that won’t break your calorie
bank? I love this one! Take half a
banana, cut lengthwise and lay on dessert plate. Slice one large strawberry and half one
pineapple ring or use two medium size chunks.
Melt ¼ ounce of Hershey’s semi-sweet chocolate chips. Drizzle over the fruit plate and refrigerate
for a little while until chocolate hardens.

One of my
favorite parts of the cooking class was super simple fish marinades that could
also be used as dressing. And remember,
if I say simple, you know they are because I’m not a made from scratch kind of
girl. I will give you the recipe for the
marinades but the great part about them, if you want to turn them into a super
easy summer dressing to put over mixed greens, veggies or fruit, just add a little
bit of Xanthan Gum (such as Bob’s Red Mill).
Did I mention it is gluten free?
Just another perk, people. Oh,
and make sure, if you are going to use the lemon one as a dressing, strain the
seeds when you juice it but that’s not required for the marinade.

Chef made
two marinades in our class. One was an orange that we used on salmon and the other
lemon that we used on tilapia or shrimp. This tiny recipe will marinate 5
pounds of fish because the flavor is so awesome.

Marinate the
fish for 1 hour. Also, you could
substitute lime for the lemon if you want a little more zing. If you want to get crazy with the lemon
marinade you could use a very little rosemary instead of the dill. Is anyone else totally drooling thinking
about some grilled salmon now or is it just me?